Say hello to MvRx, Airbnb’s Android framework which aims to make Android screens easy to write [no matter their complexity]. Let’s have a closer look at it.

Choose Kotlin, not Java for a cleaner API

Last year, we asked if Kotlin can overtake Java for Android development and the answer seems to be yes.

First, this young programming language could “change how Java is used on the server, too. In short, Android developers without Kotlin skills are at risk of being seen as dinosaurs very soon,” according to the first edition of the new Realm Report. The report concluded that “Kotlin will overtake Java in December 2018.”

Second, Airbnb recently open sourced MvRx (pronounced “mavericks”), an Android framework that’s built “Kotlin-first and Kotlin-only.” Furthermore, in a blog post announcing the new tool, they mentioned:

Designing around the Kotlin language enabled us to build an API that is far cleaner than we ever could have achieved with Java.

MvRx in a nutshell

Airbnb is using this new Android framework for almost all product development. Its goal is to make Android screens easy to write [no matter their complexity] and since it’s built on top of existing components such as Fragments and architecture components, it doesn’t constrain you and is easy to incrementally adopt.

MvRx is built on top of the following existing technologies and concepts:

As exciting as this may be, you need to keep in mind that they are developing and maintaining the framework to support their needs. If you have requests concerning features, they might only consider the “demand” if it’s useful to them.

Gabriela Motroc is editor of JAXenter.com and JAX Magazine. Before working at Software & Support Media Group, she studied International Communication Management at the Hague University of Applied Sciences.